Nesting bowls and supporting means therefor



Jan. 13, 1953 MaQMILLAN CLEMNTS 2,625,274

NEsTING BowLs AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 25, 1950 2 SHEETS- SHEET l www `| MADMILLAN Dur/LENTE E @QJ/@Www (Ittorneg Jan. 13, 1953 MacMlLLAN cLEMENTs 2,625,274

NESTING BOWLS AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 23. 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Snvcntor MALMILLAN ELEMENTS Gttorncg Patented Jan. 13, 1953 NESTING BOWLS AND SUPPORTING MEANS THEREFOR MacMillan Clements, Fairfield, Conn.

Application August 23, 1950,v Serial No. 181,063

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to nesting bowls and supporting means therefor, and has for an object to provide a set of nesting bowls and a supporting iixture to be secured to a vertical wall or the like and adapted to support the bowls for swinging movement about vertical axes, whereby they may be swung from nested position into open position to enable any one of the bowls to be removed from the supporting fixture without the necessity of removing the others. The usual set of graduated size nesting bowls is normally supported upon a horizontal surface with each successively smaller bowl nested within the next larger bowl, so that while the smallest bowl may be removed without disturbing the others, it is necessary when one of the larger bowls is to be used to remove one or more of the smaller ones from the set. According to the present invention any one of the bowls may be independently removed, and at the same time the supporting nxture provides a ixed storage location for the bowls so that they are always conveniently accessible.

A further object is to provide nesting bowls having handle means adap-ted for pivotal engagement with the supporting fixture and which pro- `vides a convenient grip to enable the bowl to be `iirrnly held while using it in stirring or the like, as distinguished from the usual nesting bowl, which, 'lacking a handle, must, in order to hold it rlnly, be gripped at its rim, usually with the thumb extending into the contents of the bowl.

A further object is to provide a detachable auxiliary handle adapted to be normally supported by the supporting fixture, and which may be readily attached to the individual bowls for convenience in handling them, particularly when the bowls are used for cooking and become too hot for direct contactof the hand therewith.

With the above and other objects in view, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, and these embodiments will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be :finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevation showing the set of nesting bowls of graduated sizes supported upon the supporting fixture constituting part of the invention, the latter being shown attached to va vertical wall surface.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, the dot-and-dash lines illustrating the open position of the bowls enabling one or Vthe other of them tp pe emailed .from the set.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation oi the supporting fixn ture.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 Ais a horizontal sectional view, similar to Fig. 3, and showing a modiiied form of the invention wherein the several bowls constituting the set are of the same size and shape.

Fig. 7 is a front elevationof the supporting xture shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the detachable auxiliary handle having releasable catch means, and shown attached to the xed handle of a bowl, the dot-and-dash lines showing the released position of the catch means.

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the auxiliary handle.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several iigures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings andk more particularly to Figs. l to 5 thereof, the set of nesting bowls comprises four bowls HJ, Il, I2 and i3 of graduated sizes, and of such depth that in the nested relation the rims oi the several bowls are in the same plane and their bases are in engagement with each other. The bowls may be of any suitable materialy as for instance metal, wood, moulded plastic, etc. A handle member i4 is secured to each of the` bowls and extends outwardly and upwardly therefrom so that its outer end is upwardly oiiset from the rim of the bowl, andupon this outer end there is formed a cylindricaltubular portion I5 for pivotal engagement with the supporting fixture, as will presently more fully appear. rFhis tubular portion also provides a convenient shape to the handle so that it may be iirmly grasped by the fingers.

The supporting fixture I6 for the bowls comprisesa verticallydisposed back panel portion I'Ladapted to be secured to a suitable vertical wall surface or the like I8 by means of screws I9.. engaged through screw holes il), and provided at its lower end with a forwardly projecting ledge portion 2|, uponv which there are supported a series of vertically disposed equally spaced cylindrical posts 22 corresponding in number to the number of bowls of the set. ,Each of the posts is provided at its base with an annular shoulder 23 to form a bearing support for the bowls, and a stud end 24 Ysecured in the ledge portion 2|. The xture is illustrated, by way of example as formed of moulded or cast material, so that the stud ends of the posts may be set into this material during the moulding or casting process. Obviously any other suitable method of attaching the posts may be employed.

The tubular ends I5 of the handle portions of the bowls are adapted to be pivotally engaged with the posts so that the bowls may be swung from their nested position, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 3 to the open position shown by the dot-and-dash lines, thus enabling any one of the bowls to be readily lifted from its post without removing the others. In` the closed position of the bowls, the central axes of the several bowls preferably coincide so that the bowls are in concentric spaced relation to each other. Also in the closed position the rims of the several bowls are in the same vertical plane and each of the bowls abuts the fiat forward side of the ledge portion ZI to limit the closed position and thus prevent contact of the bowls with the wall surface.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a modified form of the invention in which the set of nested bowls consists of four bowls of the same size and shape, and each provided with an identical handle 25 having a cylindrical tubular portion 2I at its outer end, and projecting outwardly and upwardly from the rims of the bowls, so that in the nested position, as shown in Fig. 6, they are in a vertical plane at right angles to the wall surface 'I, as distinguished from the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 where the tubular porin a bearing hole 34 of the ledge 29, to thus provide a pivotal connection for the arm, the shaft portion being retained by means of a nut 35 screwed upon its lower threaded end.

In the nested position of the bowls, as shown by the full lines of Fig. 6, the arm Sil is disposed at a right angle to the supporting wall I8, and in the open position of the bowls is adapted to be swung to a position parallel to the wall surface as shown by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 6. At its inner end the arm is provided at one side with a rounded corner 36, concentric to the swinging axis, and at the other side with a square corner 31, which limits the swinging movement of the arm to a 90 arc by abutment with the forward surface of the fixture. position the innermost or top bowl engages at its periphery with the forward surface of the ledge portion 25 to prevent the bowl from swinging into contact with the wall surface. In the open position of the bowls, as shown by the dotand-dash lines, any one of the bowls may be removed without removing the others in a substantially similar manner to the operation of the form of the invention shown inv Figs. 1 to 5.

In Figs. 9 and 10 there is illustrated an auxiliary handle for attachment to the bowl handles I4 of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, or to the bowl handles 26 of the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8, and which comprises a handle member 38 formed of plastic material, wood, or other suitable heat insulating material, to which is secured a metal bar 33 provided at its forward end with a head portion i3 curved downwardly and forwardly, as at 4I, to conform to the upper and forward sidesof In the closed ,n

the handle I4. The head portion 40 is of substantially the same width as the handle portion I4, and is provided at each side with rearwardly extending lugs I2-42 which position the head portion III against relative lateral movement upon the handle. A longitudinally slidable latch member 43 is provided at the underside of the bar 39 and is guided between downwardly and inwardly extending anges 44-44 provided at each side of the bar. At its forward end the latch member is provided with a curved portion i5 adapted to engage the underside of the tubular end portion I5 of the handle member I4, its forward end being provided with a bearing portion lwhich bears against the rearward side of the handle portion I4 in opposed relation to the head portion 4 I, thus rigidly locking the auxiliary handle to the handle I4. At the rearward end of the latch member there is provided a downwardly extending nger All, by means of which the latch member may bepushed into and out of engagement with the handle Il. A spring detent |38 secured to the finger 47 is adapted to interlockingly engage in one or the other of a pair of spaced notches IIS and formed in the underside of the bar 39, being engaged with the not-eh i3 in the latched position, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 9, and being engaged in the notch 5E in the retracted unlatched position, shown by dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 9.

For convenience in storing the auxiliary handie when not in use there is provided upon the supporting fixture, as shown in Figs. l to 5, a cylindrical post 5I having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the tubular portion of the handle Iii, and upon which the auxiliary handle may be secured in similar manner to its engagement with the bowl handle I4. The supporting xture as shown in Figs. 6 to 8 is provided with a similar cylindrical post 52. Thus when the auxiliary handle is not in use it is concealed by the nested bowls, and at the same time is always conveniently accessible.

I have illustrated preferred and satisfactory embodiments of the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be made therein within the spirit and scope thereof, as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A combined nesting bowl set and support therefor, comprising a supporting xture having a plurality of pivot support means each having an open top portion and a vertical pivot axis, a plurality of nesting bowls each adapted to be pivotally supported in nested relation with others or said bowls on one of said pivot support means, said bowls each having a bearing portion for engaging said pivot support means and said bearing portion having its axis located parallel and adjacent to the plane of the open edge of the bowl open side and pivotally engageable with one only of said pivot support means to support said bowls for horizontal swinging movement about the vertical axis of said pivot support means, whereby said bowls may be swung on their pivot support means to an unnested position and any one of said bowls may be removed from its pivot support means without removing any other of said bowls from its pivot support means.

2. A combined nesting bowl set and support therefor, comprising a supporting fixture having a plurality of pivot support means each having an open top portion and a vertical pivot axis, a plurality of graduated sizes'of nesting bowls each adapted to'be pivotally supported in nested relation with others of said bowls on one of said pivot support means, said bowls each having a bearing portion for engaging said pivot support means and said bearing portion having its axis located parallel and adjacent to the plane of the open edge of the bowl open side and pivotally engageable with one only of said pivot support means to support said bowls for horizontal swinging movement about the vertical axis of said pivot support means, whereby said bowls may be swung on their pivot support means to an unnested position and any one of said bowls may be removed from its pivot support means without removing any other of said bowls from its pivot support means.

3. A combined nesting bowl lset and support therefor, comprising a supporting fixture having a plurality of pivot support means each having an open top portion and a vertical pivot axis, a plurality of nesting bowls each adapted to be pivotally supported in nested relation with others of said bowls on one of said pivot support means, said bowls each having a bearing portion for engaging said pivot support means and said bearing portion having its axis located parallel and adjacent to the plane of the open edge of the bowl open side and pivotally engageable with one only of said pivot support means to support said bowls for horizontal swinging movement about the vertical axis of said pivot support means, whereby said bowls may be swung on their pivot support means to an unnested position and any one of said bowls may be removed from its pivot support means without removing any other of said bowls from its pivot support means, said mounting fixture comprising a xed supporting part 6 a plurality of pivot support means each having an open top Yportion and a vertical pivot axis, a plurality of nes-ting bowls each adapted to be pivotally supported in nested relation with others of said bowls on one of said pivot support means, said bowls each having a bearing portion for engaging said pivot support means and said bearing portion having its axis located parallel and adjacent to the plane of the open edge of the bowl open side and pivotally engageable with one only of said pivot support means to support said bowls for horizontal swinging movement about the vertical axis of said pivot support means, whereby said bowls may be swung on their pivot support means to an unnested position and any one of said bowls may be removed from its pivot support means without removing any other of said bowls from its pivot support means, said pivot support means comprising a plurality of spaced vertical posts, said posts being mounted in the same vertical plane.

' MACMILLAN CLEMENTS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 92,787 Clark July 20, 1869 2,262,273 Ferrara Nov.11, 1941 2,307,241 Sayre Jan. 5, 1943 2,345,745 Goldbert Apr. 4, 1944 2,409,570 Kramer Oct. 15, 1946 2,431,976 Ajax Dec. 2, 1947 2,561,806 Malland July 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 588,548 France Feb. 4, 1925 779,589 France Jan. 19, 1935 

